Lucknow, Jan 12: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to arrest BSP MLA, Purshottam Dwivedi, for allegedly raping a 17-year-old Dalit girl. The investigating agency CB-CID found that MLA, who rejected the allegations, raped her and falsely accused theft charges on the victim.

Buzz up! The Uttar Pradesh government had been in a tizzy over public outcry from various political groups over the MLAs misdemeanor. Finally, the Mayawati government appointed CB-CID for the investigation and brought out the truth. Sources reported that police may arrest Purshottam, who is under suspension, shortly.

Soon after the case popped up, MLA accused the victim of stealing clothes and jewelery from his house. He also accused the girl with stealing his pistol and Rs 5000.

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Dalits are building a temple in honour of a language they believe canliberate them from the oppressions of the caste system

When India's prime minister Manmohan Singh recalled, during a lectureat Oxford University in 2005, the legacies that his country hadinherited from British rule, he placed the English language and theeducation system above all others.

This was a direct challenge to a century of nationalist rhetoric thathad characterised the language of the British Raj as an "enslavingtool" imposed by colonisers.

Six years on, pro-English campaigners from the 200-million-strongDalit community, the oppressed "outcasts" of traditional Hinduism,have gone a step further and are erecting a black granite templededicated to the Goddess English, hailing her as a deity of liberationfrom poverty, ignorance and oppression.

"She's modelled on the Statue of Liberty, holds aloft a pen andIndia's constitution, and her pedestal isn't the usual lotus but acomputer monitor," said English teacher Amarchand Jauhar, supervisingthe temple's construction in Banka village in northern Uttar Pradesh."Without English, nothing is possible for us Dalits."

The idea isn't new. It was propagated first by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,a giant of India's early 20th-century freedom movement and chiefarchitect of its constitution, who was himself an "untouchable".

"Ambedkar compared English to the milk of the lioness, and said thosewho drink it become stronger," said Chandra Bhan Prasad, Dalitcolumnist, researcher and chief promoter of the pro-English campaign."If your child learns English it's as if he or she has inherited 100acres of land."

D Shyam Babu, a Dalit scholar, agrees: "English is no longer just alanguage – it's a skill. Without it you remain an unskilled labourer."

This idea resonates today especially due to the association of Englishwith India's technology boom, which is responsible for creating a newmiddle-class of software programmers.

But it's as tough now for a poor Dalit to learn English, or to geteducated in any language, as it was for Ambedkar a century ago. TheBritish had introduced a state-run, egalitarian system of elementaryeducation, with the regional language as the medium of instruction andEnglish as a subject from the sixth standard onward. But the systemcame to be monopolised by the upper castes. It was only thanks to theEnglish-medium schools run by Christian missionaries and the BritishArmy that "outcasts" such as Ambedkar could get a proper education.

Even today mission schools play an important role in the spread ofEnglish. Raj Kumar was born to illiterate Dalits in a backward villagein Orissa. Kumar is now a professor of English at Delhi University,and believes his amazing journey was possible because the standard ofEnglish is better in his home state than in some others due to thehuge number of mission schools.

English as an instrument of social emancipation had been recognised byreformers even before Ambedkar. In a poem entitled Mother English, thelegendary 19th-century educationist Savitri Phule wrote: "In such adismal time of ours / Come Mother English, this is your hour. / Throwoff the yoke of redundant belief / Break open the door, walk out inrelief."

Yet six decades after independence, the door remains shut in manyparts of India. At 54.7%, the literacy rate (although an unreliableindex of educational ability) for Dalits is a full 10 points below thealready low national average. Only forest-dwelling tribal groups fareworse.

"The Indian state has perpetuated the colonial policy of not providingproper education to the lower strata," said sociologist Vivek Kumar ofJawaharlal Nehru University.

Rajendra Mamgain, director of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies,adds: "The entire educational process is exclusionary."

Teachers are largely upper-caste, and mistreat Dalits. So do otherstudents. In rural schools, Dalits often have to sit separately, eatseparately, play separately and even drink water separately.

"They cannot identify with the curriculum either, so many drop out," said Kumar.

But caste bias is only one issue. Many teachers in the free state-runprimary school system are poorly trained, and are often absent. As aresult, a section of the urban poor make huge sacrifices to sendchildren to fee-charging, English-teaching private schools. But eventhis option is missing in villages.

No wonder only a tiny proportion of youth make it to universities,where instruction is in English. India's GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio)in higher education is just 12.4%, roughly half the world average. Butthe GER for rural Dalits is an abysmal 6%; for rural Dalit girls it isless than 2%.

The government has finally woken up to the fact that the current 9%GDP growth cannot be sustained without radically overhauling theeducation system. Businesses complain that many college graduates areunemployable. However, the nationalist bias against English is on thewane, and the language is now taught in state schools from the age ofsix.

Jadhav himself is a shining example of the transformative nature ofeducation. Born to illiterate Dalit parents, he is an accomplishedauthor, economist and educationist. "It's a self-evident truth thatDalits should learn English wherever they can," he says.

Not all Dalit intellectuals agree. "My own estimate is that 20 to 30million Dalits know English," says Kumar. "Yet English hasn't helpedliberate them. It's far-fetched to assume that English would absolveDalits of their stigmatised identity."

Nevertheless, Rashmi Sadana, who is researching the politics oflanguage, feels that "Prasad's headline-grabbing campaign drawsattention to India's great divide – English and non-English – which islinked to issues of caste, class and gender. It's all to the good."

As Dalits flock to pay tribute to Goddess English in Banka, Prasad canonly hope that Phule's poem will reverberate across the land: "Learnto read and write, Oh my dear one / Opportune times! Mother Englishhas come."

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will enter the house sites allotted to 22 Dalit families in Ramavaram village, Choutealli panchayat in Kaveripatinam Panchayat on January 31 and will start building houses, said K. Balakrishnan, State president of the Tamilnadu Vivasayigal Sangam here on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, he said, 22 Dalit families were denied entry into their land allotted by the government three decades ago in Ramavaram village despite having a court order in their favour.

In spite of agitations by the CPI (M) on different occasions, the district administration miserably failed to help the Dalit families to occupy the said land. Hence, the CPI (M) has decided to enter into the land on January 31 and start construction activities for the Dalits.

In case, if any law and order problem arose on that day, the district administration will be responsible for that, he warned.

Oppression against Dalits in the district was reported from many parts.

Wherever the oppression against Dalits was reported and the problems identified by the CPI (M), the party intervened and took the issues to the concerned authorities. No concrete action was initiated by the district administration in many incidents.

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Dalit activist and editor of Marathi magazine Vidrohi, Sudhir Dhawale,was arrested on Monday morning at Gondia and charged with sedition(sec 124) and under Secs 17, 20 and 39 of the Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act (UAPA).

These sections relate to: raising funds for terrorist acts; being amember of a terrorist organisation and providing support to aterrorist organisation.

Bhovate had reportedly told police that he had given his computer,which had Naxalite literature in it, to Sudhir. Thus it was necessaryto seize Sudhir's computer, said Borate. The police searched Sudhir'shome in Byculla for over three hours in the evening.

Sudhir Dhawale protesting Binayak Sen's arrestSudhir has been remanded in police custody till January 12. He hadaddressed a Ambedkar-Phule Sahitya Sammelan near Wardha on Sunday, andwas on a train when he was arrested. Borate said they had beentrailing him for the last few days, emphasising that his arrest hadnothing to do with the Sammelan.

Expressing shock at his arrest, award-winning documentary maker AnandPatwardhan compared it to that of Binayak Sen.

"I know Sudhir well. He is a gentle person. His arrest is an outrage.It's like what happened with Dr Binayak Sen - hounding those who havesympathy for the oppressed." Interestingly, Sudhir is an active memberof the Mumbai-based Committee for the Release of Binayak Sen.

A well-known name in Dalit and Left circles, Sudhir was one of thefounders of the Republican Panther Jaatiya Antachi Chalwal (movementfor annihilation of caste), formed on December 6, 2007, Dr Ambedkar'sMahaparinirvan Day, at Shivaji Park.

This group grew out of the anger of Dalit youth against the RamabaiNagar firing (1997) and the Khairlanji killings (2006).

According to Shyam Sonar, a member of the Republican Panthers, theirgroup was created seeing the failure of the Dalit Panthers to live upto their original aim of working among people to wipe out caste. "Webelieve in raising awareness about atrocities on Dalits and thegovernment's destructive pattern of development in a democratic way,"said Sonar.

A full-time activist, Sudhir edited the bi-monthly Marathi magazineVidrohi, which has among its editorial advisers Nikhil Wagle, AnandPatwardhan, and Anand Teltumbde.

His wife, a nurse, ran their home, while his friends paid his mobilebills and for his railway pass, said Sonar. Sudhir has two schoolgoing children.

A year ago, Sudhir had performed Hindi film director Sagar Sarhadi'splay Raj Durbar in Nagpur. Describing him as a "decent man and anenthusiastic and curious student of theatre", Sarhadi said his arrestwas a form of "witch hunting".

Folk artiste shahir Sambhaji Bhagat recalled having first met Sudhiras a college student in Nagpur, where he had attended Bhagat's theatreworkshops. "Sudhir was very active in organising the parallel VidrohiMarathi Sahitya Sammelans," said Sambhaji. "He is also a good singer.His arrest bodes ill for those who believe in open democratic work."

Last week, Home Minister Chidambaram had asked Maharashtra's police togo on the offensive against Naxalites in the state. "When thegovernment puts pressure on the police, they catch Leftists who workin an open manner because these are easy targets," said AnandPatwardhan. "Dr Binayak Sen and now Sudhir, are being tarred asNaxalites for doing human rights work. It is a continuation of thedangerous pattern of blurring the lines in order to shut people up."

VARANASI: Alleging that the UP government had failed to provide the prescribed 23% quota to scheduled castes in government services, chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) PL Punia claimed it was also misutilising the funds meant for the dalit.

Talking to media on Monday evening, Punia said as per the ratio of the scheduled castes in the total population of the state, a provision had been made to reserve 23% seats in government services. However, in class-I only 12% seats had been filled with SC candidates while in class-II and class-III the situation was no better as 15% and 17% seats respectively had been given to the SC candidates.

In class-IV, the state government had claimed that 34% seats had been given to SC candidates, said Punia. But, he said there were orders not to include the figures of safai workers in the reserved seats of this class and the state government had included them in the same 34%. "If the figures of safai employees are separated from this 34%, it can be found that the state government has not ensured the implementation of the orders in this class as well," Punia claimed.

Misutilisation of funds reserved for dalit population in the Special Component Plan (SCP) was also a cause of serious concern for the NCSC chairman. He said the Delhi government had spent Rs 748 crore of SCP in the preparations of the Commonwealth Games despite the fact that the fund should have been utilised for dalits only. The fund was spent in works like flyover construction, stadium and road construction as well as gardening, he said. After the commission took a serious note of it, he said, the Delhi government returned the fund.

"The UP government is also misutilising this fund," said Punia and added SCP fund was being spent in creating five medical colleges in the state at Jalaun, Kannoj, Saharanpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Banda. The SCP fund was also being used in homoeopathy hospitals and in increasing facilities at animal husbandry department. He said how was the dalit population going to be benefited by that? "It should be made clear whether only dalit students would be admitted to those medical colleges or only dalits would be treated there," he pointed out.

Punia said report of the UP government had revealed that there had been an increase of 24% in cases of atrocities against dalit in 2010. He said provisions had also been made to provide compensation to dalits in cases of crime committed against them but the Mayawati government was not showing any interest in giving compensation to the victims. He said his UP visits had irked the chief minister as he created awareness among dalits about their rights.

Punia also delivered a special lecture on social cohesion and national development organised by the social science faculty of Banaras Hindu University on Tuesday. He said the commission had taken a serious note of the suicide committed by Laxman Prasad of Jhansi after humiliation by Rakhi Sawant in a reality show of a television channel. He said that she had been summoned by the commission and a notice had been served upon her.

Punia also attended a camp organised by the Peoples Vigilance Committee on Human Rights in Badalpur to create awareness among the scheduled tribes on Tuesday afternoon.

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Emily Esplen visited a community in Dhaka where inspiring community organisers are showing change is possible

Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 11 January 2011 17.50 GMT larger | smaller

When I met members of the Dalit Women's Forum in Dhaka last month, they told me about the changes they want to see in their lives and communities. They want their daughters to go to school and stay in school. They want privacy and security when bathing in communal areas. They want health care and clean water. They want to earn their own money and not be dependent on their husbands and fathers.

These aspirations brought home to me the true meaning of "double discrimination". Dalit women find themselves on the lowest rung of the ladder in a rigid social hierarchy in which Dalits are classed as 'untouchables'.

Over 260 million people worldwide continue to suffer from caste discrimination, one of the most severe and forgotten human rights abuses that still persists in several countries. In Bangladesh, there are around 5 million Dalits living in extreme poverty, deprived of adequate housing, healthcare, education, sanitation and transport.

Dalits are literally separated from the rest of the population. They are confined to living in so-called "colonies" that are perennially flooded. They are restricted to working in jobs such as sweeping streets and collecting rubbish and human waste.

Staggering as these realities are, we cannot talk about the human rights of Dalit people without bringing up women's rights that are also denied to Dalit women. Multiple layers of disadvantage have left more than 96% of Dalit women in Dhaka illiterate - a majority of Dalit girls drop out of school due to harassment and economic pressures.

Most are unemployed, as the limited jobs available to Dalits go to the men. Cases of rape and violent crimes committed against Dalit women are often ignored by police.

Inspiring community organisers such as Moni Rani Das, coordinator and founder of the Dalit Women's Forum, remind us that change is possible. Moni was the first Dalit girl to go to school in her community due to support from her father, who later insisted that she marry when she was 12. "After years of being a housewife, I realised I could not stay home any longer and ignore the problems that Dalit women like myself faced," she told me.

After organising within initially resistant communities and lobbying dismissive public authorities, Moni says that the lives of Dalit women are now changing, and the Bangladeshi government is beginning to listen. The first step is empowering the very community one wishes to transform. "We now go outside our houses and it is an incredible precedent for Dalit women to earn their own money. This is the first time that we have understood that the lives we lived before were not human lives. "

Last month Moni received the One World Action/Sternberg Award in recognition of her work promoting human rights and her success in tackling the extreme poverty facing Dalit women. She is among the many incredible Dalit women who have struggled against discrimination and violence, but won't give up until their government and society take action.

They are also calling on the international community to play their part, and while in London, Moni met with UK parliamentarians and policymakers to raise awareness of the issue of caste discrimination and to endorse the United Nations Draft Guidelines and Principles to Eliminate Discrimination Based on Work and Descent.

The extreme poverty of Dalits stems directly from their exclusion and discrimination within political, economic and civic life. International donors that support development initiatives need to recognise that the poorest citizens in the developing world are also the most excluded. Their empowerment will enable them to demand and access jobs, education and public services, to be active agents of their own development and to live a life of dignity.

Emily Esplen is the Women's Rights Co-ordinator for One World Action. One World Action supports over 40 partner organisations in Asia, Latin America and Africa, including the Bangladesh Dalit Rights Movement and the Dalit Women's Forum.

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